While the Cat is Away...

... the Mouse is sad.

Shawn's off on a business trip, and usually when she's gone I have one of two responses. Either I get a whole boatload of things done (what we call "and learning Sanskrit") _or_ I mope around depressed.

Yesterday was the depressed day. To be fair, I think I'm catching Mason's cold, and I really can't afford to be sick right now. So I did something I almost never do, which was take a nap in the middle of the day. I also went to bed early.

Today, I'm feeling a bit better and sincerely hoping to get some stuff done. I've so far failed to go to the gym, but I do have a writing date with Eleanor and naomikritzer in about a half hour, which means that I'll get some work done at least. Despite what you might imagine, we're all pretty good at sitting and writing together with minimal chit-chat. We do chat. I mean, what is the point of getting together with other writers if not to chat a little, but I'm often surprised at the amount of work I also get done.

So here's hoping.

Plus, there's sunshine today. That seems to help a lot.

I've been very slowly working on my editorial revisions for Tate's second young adult book, which aren't nearly as painful as the ones for the previous book. I still need to rewrite the synopsis for book #3. I finished one draft, but, re-reading it, it's really kind of boring, which is never a good in a synopsis that needs to excite my editor. At least I have ideas down on page....

Probably part of my blah mood has to do with the fact that I'm not happy with what I've been reading. I bought MOCKINGJAY over the weekend, and I tried to start it at lunch yesterday. OMG, is the beginning depressing! I set it down and searched around for something else... while we were at HalfPrice Books, I picked up a couple of cheesy "classics" for our bathroom shelf. One of them was TARNSMAN OF GOR, which I have to admit to only mocking, never having read. I can now say, after reading the first 80 or so pages, it's totally mock-worthy, though not nearly as porn-y (so far) as I expected given its reputation (and... er, lifestyle.)

I don't know that I'll finish it, though it's a fine bathroom read. And, I'll probably pick up MOCKINGJAY again soon.... since I can't imagine it can possibly stay this depressing all the way to the end.

Though this does remind me that I wanted to ask your opinion of something. I've been listening in to a discussion among some writer friends about psuedonyms and gender. Do you boy children care if they're reading science fiction/fantasy by women, as the popular belief would have us think? I realized when I put my two cents into the discussion that Mason is not very average, in that he has two moms, and thus may not think of the world in terms of "boy stuff" vs. "girl stuff," AND he's also still young enough that he's not ooged out by romance, etc., which apparently (according to some people in this discussion, anyway,) may be the turn off factor -- as in, boys are leery about books by women because, at a certain age, they hope to avoid any potential taint of that oogy romance stuff.

All the extremely popular authors over the past few years begs to differ (J.K. Rowling, Suzanne Collins both been women and writing SF/F with that oogie romance-y stuff present, if not central to the plot). But what do you think?